The present invention relates to point-of-sale devices and, more particularly, to management of a distributed system of point-of-sale devices.
The use of point-of-sale devices to conduct transactions is becoming increasingly widespread. Point-of-sale devices can be placed at a wide variety of convenient locations (e.g., grocery stores, convenience stores), allowing customers to conveniently purchase certain goods or services without the need to visit an outlet dedicated to selling the relevant goods or services. For example, point-of-sale devices often are used to sell negotiable instruments or to permit payment of utility bills at locations convenient to the customer. Such devices may even be placed in homes and businesses.
A wide variety of point-of-sale devices currently are available, offering a wide array of products and services. Point-of-sale devices may, for example, be used to sell money orders or other products. They may also be used to permit payment of bills or any other type of transaction service.
Negotiable instrument dispensers, such as money order dispensing machines, provide an instructive example of the use of point-of-sale devices. Money order dispensing machines (xe2x80x9cMODsxe2x80x9d), which are also referred to by various names such as xe2x80x9cautomatic money order dispensersxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cAMODs,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cRMODsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cDeltas,xe2x80x9d allow for the issuance and sale of money orders at a wide variety of convenient locations. MODs commonly are placed at convenience stores, check cashing agencies, grocery stores, financial institutions, and other retail and service outlets. The xe2x80x9cissuerxe2x80x9d of the money orders generally authorizes an xe2x80x9cagentxe2x80x9d (e.g., the grocery store) to operate the MOD at each location. When a MOD is installed at a particular site, and periodically thereafter, blank money order forms (which are negotiable documents and are sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cnegotiable stockxe2x80x9d) are loaded into a compartment within the MOD. As customers purchase money orders, the operator enters appropriate information (e.g., amount), and the MOD prints the information on the forms and dispenses the completed money orders. The forms are typically numbered sequentially. When the MOD is loaded, the operator loading the forms enters the serial numbers of the first forms. As money orders are purchased, the MOD increments a counter to keep track of which forms have been printed on. The MODs also provide reports of MOD activity, either electronically or in printed form.
The owner of a system of point-of-sale devices (e.g., the issuer of money orders) generally must closely manage its point-of-sale devices (e.g., MODs). For example, point-of-sale devices typically include a number of mechanical components and, therefore, commonly malfunction. The owner generally desires to keep the devices operative and, therefore, must monitor, maintain, and repair devices regularly. Additionally, devices such as MODs contain negotiable documents that may be used to impose financial liabilities on the issuer. The owner therefore needs to prevent fraudulent or unauthorized use of the devices.
To facilitate management of a widespread system of point-of-sale devices, the devices should have certain features. Several key features are discussed below.
Point-of-sale devices should be user-friendly. The individuals operating the devices (e.g., clerks at a convenience store) typically have little or no technical training, and it is often not practical for an issuer to provide training to each individual who will operate a device. Unfortunately, many conventional point-of-sale devices are not sufficiently easy to use. For example, it is often difficult to properly reload MODs with negotiable stock. Conventional MODs are also often bulky and difficult to install at agent sites.
Point-of-sale devices should also incorporate security features to prevent unauthorized usage and minimize the risk of misuse (e.g. the risk that fraudulent money orders will be created). Most conventional point-of-sale devices incorporate relatively primitive and limited security measures. For example, the compartment in a MOD containing the blank negotiable documents generally is locked, and may be opened only with a physical key. This security measure can prevent some types of unauthorized access, but permits free access to anyone who has obtained the key. It also does not provide any record of who accessed the negotiable documents and what activity took place during such access. Consequently, it is often difficult to determine in a timely manner whether documents have been removed, whether misuse may have occurred, and by whom.
Point-of-sale devices should also provide a mechanism with which the issuer can monitor usage of the device. Most conventional devices do not provide a mechanism for easy monitoring and rely on information supplied to the issuer or the device itself by the user. For example, conventional MODs generally do not verify the sequence of the items during the sales process, instead relying on the initial number entered by the operator as described above. In the event the documents become out of sequence (e.g., due to a jam, operator errors, or theft), the MOD records the expected serial number without verification of the appropriate document on which it is printing. Some MODs employ a primitive sequence verification technique in which every third document contains an identical, detectable mark (i.e., a sequencing mark). When the MOD detects a sequencing mark, it determines whether the document counter number is divisible by three and, if so, assumes that the documents are in sequence. This technique, however, is inadequate in that it does not detect all types of sequence errors. For example, if three consecutive documents were removed from the sequence, the system would not detect the problem. Additionally, prior art point-of-sale devices may require the issuer to physically inspect the device to obtain many types of information. Conducting routine physical inspections can be costly and time consuming.
With the passage of time, systems of point-of-sale devices are being installed with increasingly large numbers of devices. Additionally, the functions performed by typical devices are increasing in complexity. These trends increase the need for user-friendly and efficient management from a remote location. In general, the larger and more complex the system, the more user-friendly it must be if relatively untrained users are involved.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system for managing a distributed system of devices that provides advantages over prior systems.
The present invention provides an improved system for management of distributed point of sale devices. Embodiments of the present invention can provide more convenient, secure and efficient means for managing distributed devices.
The present invention allows for embodiments having many advantages, such as the following:
(i) They permit efficient management of many point-of-sale devices.
(ii) They offer enhanced security measures.
(iii) They allow for an audit trail that accounts for every document placed in the printer of a point-of-sale device.
(iv) They allow for easy loading of the device and facilitate the determination of what was loaded.
(v) They are user friendly.
(vi) They provide secure storage of documents such as money orders.
(vii) They permit reduced manual record keeping and paperwork.
(viii) They provide a daily print-out of all transactions.
(ix) They provide quick and efficient printing of documents such as money orders.
(x) They permit the use of standard bar-code, MICR and/or OCR technology.
(xi) They provide an audit trail of who accessed the printer of a point-of-sale device and when.
Many additional advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the present disclosure.